


Shattered Across Time

by Cupckeshrk8D



Series: Prompt Based Yu-Gi-Oh! Stuff [4]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Ancient Egypt, M/M, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-25
Updated: 2020-01-29
Packaged: 2020-07-17 22:15:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 8,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19964071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cupckeshrk8D/pseuds/Cupckeshrk8D
Summary: A sequel to A Strange ConversationWith Ryou stuck in the past, his friends in the both past and present will have to find a way to bring him home.This fic used to be titled The Strangeness Continues





	1. Someone Else's Life

**Author's Note:**

> So I ended up with the prompt
> 
> A major protagonist wakes up in someone else's life.
> 
> And I realized that was basically how I chose to interpret the prompt for A Strange Conversation. I was left with two options. Do the exact same thing but with a different character and without the time travel, or make a sequel.

Behind the door Atem stood in front of was one of the greatest mysteries in all of Egypt. A supposed thief, who claimed to be from the distant future. Atem sighed, then knocked on the door.

Ryou opened the door for the Pharaoh and the two stood there for a moment in awkward silence. Atem opened his mouth to speak, but was unable to think of any words. Ryou was the first to manage to break the awkward silence that hung in the room. “What color are my eyes?”

“That’s a strange question to ask. They're light purple,” answered Atem. “I used to have blue eyes. I don’t really look anything like I used to. That’s honestly the strangest thing about all this,” Ryou paused, his eyes wandering around the room. “It’s not just time travel. It’s like I swapped bodies with someone.”

It sounded completely and utterly crazy. As much as Atem wanted to dismiss Ryou Bakura as insane, lying, or both, he had to admit that there was no other explanation. Ryou was from the future. Atem had no idea how, but it was true. At first he’d merely been talking to Ryou ought of curiosity, trying to discover more about the mysterious Thief King. But after their first strange conversation it became clear. Ryou Bakura was not the Thief King. Ryou Bakura was some random person from the future. It sounded completely ridiculous. It had sounded even more ridiculous when he tried to explain why he was freeing the man who had dragged his father’s mummy into the palace.

But as crazy as what had happened was, the same thing was happening in another place and time, unbeknownst to the very confused pharoah. After all, if you swapped bodies with someone, that means someone else is now occupying your body. So we should probably check in with the present and the thief in Ryou Bakura’s body.

Yugi and his friends were currently sitting in Bakura’s apartment, having just defeated the evil spirit in his ring. Bakura had gone to the bathroom to bandage his injured left hand, leaving his new friends to wait in awkward silence. “What time is it?” asked Yugi, looking around the room for a clock. Unfortunately there wasn’t one, at least in this room. He glanced at the table, where the millenium ring lay, untouched since Bakura had put it down there. Yugi looked down at the puzzle he wore around his neck, gripping it tightly. The game they had played was the first time he saw the other version of himself. He had known about him for a while, but it was still jarring.

Jounochi was the next to break the silence. “Bakura’s been gone for a while now. I’m going to go check on him.” He then left the room. Jounochi’s suspicions turned out to be correct, as the next thing Yugi heard was a scream. The three friends immediately jumped up and rushed off in the direction Jounochi had gone in. What they found was Bakura, unconscious on the floor. 


	2. Who Are You?

Bakura lay unconscious on the floor, the blood from his injured hand staining the carpet. Luckily he was still breathing, but what do you do in this situation? Honda had gone to get an ambulance. Anzu was looking to see if there was anyone else in the building who could help. Yugi found himself nervously fidgeting with the string around his neck. He paced back and forth across the room, feeling like he should be doing something to help but unsure what to do. Jounochi turned to him, breaking Yugi out of his nervous pacing. “Should we try to move him?” He paused, waiting for an answer. However before Yugi could answer, Bakura’s eyes opened.

“Where the hell am I?” Bakura mumbled as he tried to stand up. “You’re in your apartment,” said Yugi as he reached his hand out to help Bakura. Bakura looked at him, hesitating. He then ran out the door.

Yugi and Jounochi quickly followed, where they found him standing in the living room, staring off into space. He had the millenium ring held tightly in his hands. Yugi slowly stepped forward. “Are you okay?” Bakura didn’t even look at him, and instead stared down at the ring. “Who are you?” Yugi stumbled backwards. Was this even Bakura? Yet it wasn’t the spirit in the ring. The ring knew who they were.

Jounochi reached out towards the millennium ring. “Bakura what’s gotten into you?”

“You don’t know me,” said Bakura as he gripped the ring tighter. “And you didn’t answer my question. Who are you?”

“Yugi. My name’s Yugi.” He paused, taking a breath. “And this is Jounochi,” he said, gesturing towards his friend. Bakura paused, then slipped the ring around his neck. 

“So you’re saying I’ve travelled through time?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a habit of ending chapters the moment I write a line that feels like the end of the chapter. So be prepared for short chapters.


	3. An Evil Smirk

Ryou and Atem were sitting in Ryou’s room still trying to piece together what had happened. From what Atem could tell, Ryou had somehow ended up in the body of a thief from the distant past. The question was how to get things back to normal. Ryou couldn’t stay in the past forever. The friends he kept mentioning were probably worried about him. But how would they even get him back home when they had no idea how he got here in the first place?

At that moment the door burst open, and Mahado rushed into the room. “What is it?” asked Atem as he quickly stood up. “Pharaoh, it’s about Bakura.” He paused. “Both of them.”

“What?” shouted Atem and Ryou, almost simultaneously. But before Mahado could answer, something changed about the expression on his face. A look of fear as he tightly gripped the millenium ring. A look that quickly vanished as it was replaced with a smirk that was all too familiar to Atem. He had only met the Thief King once, but it was an encounter he would never forget.

“Hello landlord,” said Mahado, but in a voice that didn’t sound like him. Ryou gasped, causing “Mahado” to grin even more. He laughed as he looked at Ryou and Atem’s shocked expressions. “The past and future are colliding, Ryou. And soon both will be plunged into darkness.” He then collapsed.

“What?” Atem paused, taking a breath. “What was that?” Ryou frowned, fidgeting with his left sleeve. “The spirit of the millenium ring.” He looked up towards Atem. “I guess things are getting even stranger.”


	4. Take My Hand

“He knew. He knew who I was.” 

Ryou looked down at his left hand, unable to look Atem in the eye. He had a habit of fidgeting with his left sleeve, especially whenever the spirit of the ring was mentioned.

It had been a couple of hours since the spirit of the ring had possessed Mahado, but the encounter was still fresh in their minds. The two of them were sitting on a bench still trying to figure out what to do about this whole mess. Sitting on a table nearby was the millenium ring. Atem looked up towards Ryou. “So I guess you’re not the only one who’s traveled through time.” They both found themselves staring at the ring. 

What was happening? How had something created to help protect become the home for someone bent on destruction? Who was the spirit inside of the ring?

Could he be? Atem sighed. It was certainly a possibility. But a familiar smirk wasn’t enough to say for sure. With Ryou in the thief’s body, Atem had no clue where the Thief King could be.

Atem was snapped out of his thoughts by Ryou reaching his hand out towards the ring.

“What if he knows how this all happened?”

Atem quickly looked up from the ring to look Ryou in the eye. “Don’t.”

Ryou nodded, and moved his hand away from the ring.

“From what you’ve said about him he’s clearly dangerous. We do need to find out how to get you back home, but we shouldn’t risk it.”

Ryou looked down at the floor. “I just feel like we’re getting nowhere. And now everything is even more confusing.” He looked back up, and Atem realised he was crying. “And I want to get back home, and I can’t stay here but…”

“But what?”

“I’ll miss you!” Ryou shouted. “My friends back in Domino city are important, but it feels like by going back home I’d be abandoning you. I don’t want to have to choose between my friends!”

“We’re friends?”

“Of course!” Ryou quickly replied, grinning through his tears.

“I don’t know what we’re going to do, but I promise I’ll do everything in my power to make sure everything turns out okay.” Atem grinned, holding his hand out to his new friend.

“How can you be so optimistic?” Ryou asked, hesitating.

“I’m not. I just don’t want to lose you too.”

The two then decided to just sit there in silence holding hands, staring at the ring upon the table. 

And inside the ring, the darkness was staring back at them.


	5. Challenge the Mystery

Yugi sighed, looking down at the puzzle held tightly in his hands. “What are we going to do?” he asked. His other self didn’t respond, but Yugi knew he was listening.

It had been a couple of days since this whole mess had started. There was a stranger in Bakura’s body. He had the millenium ring. And they had no idea where he was.

He had run off after declaring himself to be a time traveler. Well, it was less like he declared it and more like he was repeating what someone else had said. And the identity of that someone else?

Yugi shivered. They had only just saved Bakura from the ring, but the spirit was already back.

“Yugi! One of your friends is here!” shouted his mother from downstairs.

“Okay!” Yugi quickly rushed down the stairs and threw open the front door. 

Yugi gasped. Standing in front of him was Bakura. Or rather, whoever it was currently possessing Bakura. His left hand was rather messily bandaged, and the ring still hung around his neck.

“Look kid, I don’t trust you. But I don’t know enough about the future to get back on my own.” 

Yugi nodded, gesturing for him to come inside. The two walked upstairs, not speaking until the door to Yugi’s room was shut behind them.

Yugi smiled at the time traveler. “My name’s Yugi. What’s yours?”

“Bakura.”

“Bakura?” Yugi looked up into the stranger’s eyes

“Are you just going to repeat everything I say? Or are we actually going to have a conversation worth my time?”

“It’s just,” Yugi paused, looking away. “Bakura is my friend’s name.”

“From the look on your face I’m going to assume this friend is the one whose body I’m currently in.”

Yugi nodded.

“Look I’m not Ryou Bakura and I’m not the guy in the Millennium Ring.” He sighed, and for a moment the smirk on his face seemed to fade. “I’m just Bakura.”

His smirk quickly returned. “So we need to put this puzzle together.” Yugi shivered. It looked almost as if the smirk was hiding a burning hatred. Yugi stared at him. Who was this person? He sighed, looking down at the puzzle he wore around his neck. The puzzle seemed to almost glow as he felt his other self take control.

“What do you know about the Millennium items?” asked the other Yugi. 

“You know, you look awfully familiar. Like somebody I really don’t like.” He grinned, his hidden rage seeming to break through again. Behind the smug grin and cocky attitude there was clearly something more.

“Who are you Bakura?” asked his other self.

From the back of his mind Yugi looked into Bakura’s eyes. Ryou Bakura’s eyes. But they weren’t his eyes, at least not at the moment. The other Bakura definitely wasn’t his friend.

“Who am I?” Bakura, this Bakura wasn’t even trying to hide his anger anymore. “I’m the person who’s leaving right now,” he said, turning towards the door. “I’ll find my own way home.”

“Wait! You’re the only one here who knows what’s going on!”

“And I came to you for answers. If you know less than me, I see no reason as to why I should be here.”

“I challenge you to a game!”

“What?” Bakura stared at him, his hand leaving the doorknob for a second.

“I challenge you to a game. And if I win you have to help us figure out what’s going on!”

Bakura sighed. “A game? Fine. But if I win, I’m leaving and taking this with me.” He grinned, holding up the millenium ring.

Watching his other self, Yugi gripped the puzzle. All he could do now was trust in his partner.


	6. Roll the Dice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took so long. I've been working on it for ages and I'm still not happy with it. I got frustrated with trying to write the dice rolling scene, and I just could not finish it. But it’s over now, so I can get back to writing the parts I actually like writing.

“The game is simple. We both roll two ten sided dice. The lower the number, the better the roll.” 

Yugi grabbed a table and dragged it to the center of the room, not taking his eyes off of the other Bakura. Taking four dice from the desk drawer, he set them down. The two stood at opposite sides of the table, glaring at each other as they grabbed their dice.

Bakura smirked. 

“So you’re just leaving this to luck?” 

Yugi paused, remembering the trick the spirit of the ring had used to easily get two zeroes.

“I wouldn’t say it’s entirely luck based”

The room around them seemed to darken, like the world was confined solely to the table they stood at.

Yugi threw his dice. He carefully watched them spin, nudging the table to get one die to strike the other. The spinning dice came to a stop, a zero and a one staring up at him. 

Directing one last smirk towards his opponent, Bakura quickly prepared to roll. But strangely, he looked almost confused. The dice awkwardly fell from his hand, and Bakura was soon glaring at the two nines.

"It seems that someone," he glared, not towards Yugi, but towards the ring. "Someone doesn't want me to leave."

"So, what do you know? The only way we'll be able to figure this out is if we work together."

"Somehow, I ended up swapping places with someone from 3000 years into the future. And I think it has something to do with this ring."


	7. Converse With the Past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter was 90% finished for months, but I kind of forgot about it. Sorry for making you guys wait so long! But luckily while finishing this chapter, I also wrote most of the rest of the fic. It’s going to be 17 chapters, and I'm currently working on chapter 15. So hopefully there won't be anywhere near as long a wait again.

Yugi looked at the time traveler residing in his friend’s body.

"So you're from ancient Egypt?"

Bakura nodded.

"So Bakura … um the Bakura from my time is 3000 years in the past?"

"Probably. I don't know the rules for this nonsense. And just say Ryou. It gets confusing.”

Yugi began fidgeting with the puzzle around his neck. It felt awkward to suddenly start referring to Bakura as Ryou, especially as they had only just met. But constantly clarifying which of the two he meant was starting to get tiring.

"Ryou's currently in the palace. The Pharaoh is just as confused by this mess as you are."

Yugi blinked. There was no real audible difference between the ring and Bakura. They both spoke in a more menacing version of the body they were inhabiting's voice.

"How do you know?"

The spirit of the ring glared at Yugi.

"Look. I don't like you and you don't like me. But you're right about us needing to actually communicate to solve this mess. Luckily for you I decided that this whole body swapping disaster doesn't work to my advantage. Ryou might be more reluctant, but at least he knows what an elevator is."

Yugi reluctantly nodded. As much as it hurt to be working with somebody who had tried to kill them, he needed to save Ryou Bakura.

"Okay, how much do you know?"

"Somehow I can switch between the ring in the present and the ring in the past."

He paused, taking a breath.

"Nobody is wearing the ring in the past now … well not now, it's complicated. But the point is no one is wearing the ring so I can't directly interfere."

"When did Mahado stop wearing the ring?"

It was jarring seeing the two switch so quickly.

"I  _ may _ have alerted them to my presence trying to twist this situation to my advantage."

The spirit of the ring was trying to stop it from showing, but he was clearly panicking. He was a puppet master with a plan he'd been working on for a long time, and now that it was falling apart he didn't know what to do. 


	8. Love and Fear

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With most of this written, I’m going to try to update every day. Though with my procrastination and tendency to just forget to post, thos schedule might slip up occasionally.

Atem paced back and forth across the room, desperately trying to think of something, anything. They had no solutions, no idea how Ryou had even got here, nothing! He desperately wanted to help Ryou, but there was nothing he could do. He slammed his fist against the wall in frustration. He was the pharaoh, why was he powerless to do anything?

A familiar voice brought him back to reality.

"Hello!"

Standing in the doorway was Mana, an energetic smile on her face. Atem felt a pang of guilt, with everything that was going on, he had been ignoring his friend.

"Oh, hello Mana."

She looked at him, concerned.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, it's nothing."

"I heard you pacing back and forth for what felt like forever. It's not nothing."

"Okay, well there is something going on, but it's complicated."

"Well, when you're ready to talk about it, I'm here for you, okay?"

Atem nodded.

"Okay."

"Anyway, you've been cooped up in here for far too long. You need a break."

"But I need to-"

"Whatever it is, you're clearly getting nowhere. A break would be good for you."   
  


She smiled.

"Trust me, the world isn't going to end just because you take some time to relax. And your new friend can come too. I know how much you care about him!"

Something about the way Mana said that made Atem blush uncomfortably. Ryou was just a friend. And besides, they were trying to get Ryou home. If that happened they'd never see each other again. He had promised Ryou everything would be okay, but he had no idea how to accomplish that.

At Mana's insistence the three of them were soon relaxing on the banks of the Nile. The water seemed to sparkle in the sunlight, but nowhere near as much as Ryou's eyes. They had lit up in excitement the moment they arrived at the river.

"It's just so beautiful, the sun, the sand, the water. It's just so nice."

Atem grinned. Something about seeing Ryou so happy just made everything feel better. For a brief moment he wasn't worried about Bakura, the ring, or how to get Ryou back home.

Ryou blushed, quickly turning away from Atem.

"Sorry. You get to see it all the time, so it's probably not that impressive."

"I think it's cute how excited you get. It's fun seeing something that's normal to you through new eyes."

Ryou blushed harder. Atem's eyes fell to the sandy floor, desperately wanting to disappear. Cute? Why did he say cute? Out of all the words in the world, why cute?

Mana giggled.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing!"

Mana's cheeky grin made it clear that it was not "nothing".

Looking back towards Ryou, Atem saw tears building in his eyes and a lost, distant look on his face.

"What's wrong?"

"If we find a way to fix everything and send me back home, I'll never get to see you again. I'm scared. I'm scared of being with you, of being close, because I'll just lose it all! I can't stay and I can't go and I don't know what to do."

Ryou looked towards Atem, his eyes red with tears.

"I feel like I'm just repeating everything. I know we just discussed this, but one conversation doesn't instantly make everything better. I'm still afraid. We still have no idea what we're doing, and everyday it seems more and more futile. And if we do find out how to get me back home, what happens next? What if I don't want to go back?"

Atem paused, unsure how to console him.

"Why wouldn't you want to go back? Your friends, your family, your entire life is in the present."

"Because I love you, you idiot!"

Atem stared in shock.

"I love you, and I hate that I can't do anything about it. If I get close, I'll just lose you. I've lost too many people, I can't afford to get attached to you. I'm too scared of what might happen."

He reached out a hand to wipe away Ryou's tears.

"I'm scared too. And it's okay, because we'll figure it out together."

He pulled Ryou close into a hug, wanting desperately to comfort him, to make everything okay.

"I love you too," Atem softly whispered into Ryou's ear.

He couldn't think of anything else to say, so he just sat there, holding Ryou close. He didn't know how, but he'd somehow find a way so that they didn't have to lose each other.

Mana was staring at the water, a guilty look on her face.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pushed you guys to come here."

"It's okay Mana. If I was bottled up inside any longer I might have exploded."

Ryou sat up, turning towards Mana.

"I needed to get this off my chest. It's not your fault."

Slowly, in a barely audible whisper, Ryou asked, "You mean it right? You really actually love me? Like in a not platonic way?"

Atem smiled, wanting to ease Ryou's fears.

"Yes, I love you. The way you smile makes me feel like everything is alright, and I want you to be happy and I want to be with you."

Atem held Ryou close, their heads brushing together.

"I don't know how to solve this, but we'll come out of this together. I promised you, right?"


	9. Sadistically Mocking

Atem looked out the window at the starry night sky, unable to sleep. The world seemed so peaceful, yet inside he felt troubled. But he assured himself that as long as he was with Ryou, everything would turn out alright. He ran his fingers over the golden pendant he wore around his neck. Ryou had called it a puzzle, he wondered why. The future was a complete mystery to him. All he knew was that he wanted to spend it with Ryou, and somehow he'd find a way.

Movement in the distance distracted him from his pondering. He slipped out of his room, following the shadowy figure. Ordinarily he'd call the guards, but everything going on lately was so extraordinary that the thought didn't even cross his mind

The further he followed the person the clearer where they were going became. The room where Atem had left the ring.

He hid in the shadows, as silent as can be, watching them. As their hand reached out towards the gold of the ring, Atem caught just a glance of their face. Their scarred face with purple eyes. The thief king's eyes. Ryou's eyes.

"Ryou?"

The ring fell to the floor with a clatter, as Ryou turned to face Atem.

"I hear it. It's calling out to me."

"What?"

Ryou didn't respond, simply bending down to pick the millenium ring back up. Atem reached forward to stop him, but Ryou moved swiftly, the ring quickly around his neck.

"That was surprisingly easy."

The voice of the ring sent a chill down Atem's spine.

"I've got a message for you Pharoah!"

He grinned, his voice calling out in a childish mocking tone.

"What do you want?"

"Aw, is that any way to greet an old friend?"

His face briefly twisted into a sad, lonely frown before going back to his usual sadistic grin.

"I want a lot of things. Power, revenge, the entire world to burn to the ground as I look down in glee, but that's not what this is about. I just miss my landlord oh so much and was figuring I could be generous and offer my help."

He laughed, as if the mere idea of helping others was some kind of hilarious joke.

"What exactly do you mean by help?"

"I can tell you about the future."

He began to stroke his fingers along the ring, his smirk seeming to almost glow in the darkness.

"I can travel between this ring and the one in the present. My landlord's friends are also trying to figure out what's going on and how to fix things. They've made as much progress as you, which is to say, absolutely nothing."

"How did you do this? How did you send Ryou to the past?"

"Wait, you think I did this?"

The spirit of the ring doubled over in laughter.

"How would this benefit me in any way? I have no idea how this happened, or how to stop it."

He paused, seemingly deep in thought.

"I'm simply offering my services as a message carrier."

He laughed again, his mocking grin infuriating Atem.

"All of you pathetic idiots are just running around in circles. I had to throw a dice game to get the thief king to even tell Yugi what little he knew. You clearly need me. What do you say?"

Atem sighed. They were getting nowhere, but he didn't want to trust the ring. He had hurt Ryou, he had tried to kill his friends, and the spirit had made it clear that he had no intention of giving up his murderous ways.

"I want to talk to Ryou before I make a decision."

"Fine. I'll be waiting."

In an instant the sadistic glee vanished from his face.

"So what should we do? You're the one he's hurt the most, I feel like it should be your decision whether or not we trust him."

"I don't know. I followed him because I didn't know what to do. We've been so lost and all of a sudden there's this voice calling out. I don't trust him, yet I still listened."

Ryou looked down at his left hand.

"I really don't want his help. I don't want him trying to hurt you, but what else can we do?"

"Ryou, don't agree to this just because you feel you have to."

Ryou paused, breathing in as he slowly pulled the ring off.

"We'll have him tell my friends that I'm okay. He can pass messages between time. But no one is wearing the ring. He is perfectly capable of telling us without possessing me."


	10. A Brief Update

Yugi drummed his fingers against his desk, wondering what to do. Ryou was still trapped in the past and there was nothing they could do about it. The worst part was that nothing ever seemed to be happening. Ryou lived alone, so they didn't have to deal with explaining the situation to his parents. The spirit of the ring was guiding Bakura through modern life, patiently explaining things like refrigerators and air conditioning. Their utter helplessness when faced with a problem they had no way of dealing with made it all feel so mundane.

He looked down at the puzzle, sighing. His other self was still a complete mystery. He was able to recall what happened when the puzzle took control, but hadn't been able to talk to him since the game of Monster World.

The ringing of the phone alerted him to a call from Bakura.

"Hey, I've got a message from Ryou."

Finally, something, anything to move them forward in their quest to save their missing friend. The spirit had previously mentioned being able to move through time, but with nobody in the past wearing the ring, he couldn't get into contact with Ryou.

"He's still in the palace with the pharaoh. They haven't made any progress. They'll let me know if anything happens so I can tell you. I've already told him that you guys also don't know what you're doing. Is there anything else Ryou needs to know?"

"Can you tell him that we're trying our best to get him back? We don't know how we'll save him, but we're never going to give up on our friend."

"Yeah, I'm not passing along your sappy friendship speeches. I agreed to send updates on your plan to get him back, nothing else."

The spirit hung up, ending the conversation.

Yugi smiled, it wasn't much, but it was still progress. He was grateful for any step forward, no matter how small. And the ability for them to finally be able to communicate wasn't something to be underestimated. He'd have to let the others know. Recently it had been like they'd hit a roadblock, completely unable to move forward. Perhaps this was the motivation they needed to figure out the next step, whatever that was. No matter how long it takes, they just need to keep moving forward.


	11. Progress, Actual Progress

Atem lay slumped in a chair, eyeing the millenium ring on the table. Ryou's friends in the present were as stumped as they were. At the sound of the door slamming open, he immediately straightened his posture.

Mana looked at him from the doorway, a sheepish grin on her face. Ryou stood behind her, with a look that was a bizarre mix of eagerness and disappointment.

"So it turns out we're all idiots."

Ryou glared in mock anger.

"Hey! I at least have the excuse of knowing nothing about this place!"

Atem looked up, curious.

"What is it?"

"The library."

"What about it?"

"There are a ton of spellbooks there. One of them probably has the answers we're looking for."

Ryou rolled his eyes.

"And somehow, neither of you thought of suggesting this until now."

Atem paused, embarrassed at the fact that it took them this long to come up with such a simple solution.

"That sounds infinitely more productive than just standing around talking about stuff."

Atem grabbed the ring and the three of them quickly headed to the library.

Mana and Ryou began searching the shelves, as Atem explained their plan to the ring.

"We're searching the library for spell books now. In hindsight it seems so obvious."

He waited patiently for the spirit to finish telling Ryou's friends. Atem's eyes darted around the room, glancing from shelf to shelf. Mana looked as energetic as ever as she scanned through pages and pages of spells. She read quickly, her studying under Mahado greatly benefiting in this search. Ryou was slower, his eyes straining as he tried to piece together the meaning of the words he read. He looked stunned for a moment, then threw down the paper in exasperation. 

The ring lit up, and Atem turned his attention back to it. 

"They said it's a good plan, as they are also incompentent morons who have no idea what they're doing and have also made no progress until now."

He glared at the ring.

"Really?"

"Okay I might have paraphrased a little."

"Atem?"

He looked up. Mana was staring at one of the many spell books in the library, a look of fear and worry spreading across her face.

"What is it Mana?"

"This can't be."

Mana stared in shock as Atem walked over to see what was wrong. She thrust the page towards Atem. His eyes quickly scanned the page, widening in horror as he read. It detailed how to create a set of seven magical artifacts. The millenium items. And the main ingredient? Human lives.

"What's wrong?"

Ryou looked up from putting away one of the spell books. Atem paused, unsure what to say.

"The millenium items, this claims they're created by human sacrifice!"

Ryou reached forward, pulling Atem into his arms.

"My father wouldn't do something like this would he?"

Tears stung his eyes, a feeling of despair building up within him.

"Why? I thought, I was told that the items were created for good, for justice!"

All at once everything seemed to click into place. A village no one had heard of, a thief desperate for revenge, and now items with a deadly origin.

"Kul Elna."

The words were choked out, seemingly fighting against his throat as the overwhelming feelings made it difficult to speak. Ryou stumbled backwards a bit, dragging both of them crashing down to the floor. They hadn't spoken of Kul Elna since he first met Ryou, imprisoned deep in the dungeon. With everything involving Ryou, the mysterious things said by the thief king had slipped into the back of his mind.

"That thing you were asking me about when we first met?"

Ryou's eyes widened with realization, Kul Elna’s fate going unspoken. They quickly picked up the ring from where it lay discarded on the floor.

“I need you to pass a message to the thief king Bakura. I think we figured out what happened to Kul Elna.”

He paused, taking a moment to compose himself.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know why my father thought this was a necessary sacrifice, but the power of the millennium items is not worth the deaths of those people. I’m sorry, and I want to know what I can do to make up for my father’s crime.”

“You’re sorry? Sorry? Well that apology is three thousand years too late, pharaoh!”

The voice coming from the ring was seething with rage.

"And you dare to act like have an even minute understanding of what I went through!"

What I? Everything the spirit had said up until now made so much more sense. The ring's unending hatred of him, acting like they had already met, his secretive nature and vague desire for revenge. Atem looked down at the ring in his hands.

"You're Bakura, aren't you?"


	12. Join the Present?

Jonouchi jumped on the couch next to Yugi with a sigh. He turned towards Bakura, sitting on the other side of the room.

"So you haven't heard anything from the ring since he told you they were checking the library for spell books?"

Bakura nodded, his eyes looking down towards the millennium ring around his neck.

"He's still there, just not talking. I think he's mad, but I don't know why."

Yugi couldn't help but think of his other self, contained in the puzzle. He knew he was there, but he seemed so far away. They moved separate of each other, the puzzle only taking control when there were people in need of saving and a game that needed to be played. He stared at the ring, it swaying slightly as Bakura paced around the room. The gold seemed to shine in the light as it moved back and forth. He wondered how things were going for Ryou Bakura in the past, wondering what had happened with the ring, and why it was no longer speaking with its present host.

Mana, Ryou, and Atem sat amongst the unorganized piles of spells in the library, sifting through the mess.

"I feel like we've looked through everything. How have we not found a single time spell?"

Mana threw her hands up in exasperation.

"You think we'd have found something, anything by now!"

Ryou glanced around at the colossal mess they had made, his hand tugging on his left sleeve.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just need to take a break. I'll be right outside."

He quickly slipped out of the room. As the look on Ryou's face had shown that there was clearly something beyond the stress bothering him, Atem followed him out into the hall.

"Ryou?"

Ryou was sitting against the wall, his head looking down at the floor. He turned toward Atem, his face red with tears.

"Ryou, what's wrong?"

"When I leave, will you come with me?"

Atem stood there in silence, unsure what to say. The idea had crossed his mind before, but he was the pharaoh, he couldn't just leave. He didn't want to lose Ryou, but he felt guilty about keeping him in Egypt. He couldn't keep Ryou a prisoner of the past. So they had moved forward in their quest to find a way for Ryou to return home. A part of him considered that maybe they could find a way for Ryou to move back and forth as he pleased, rather than being forced to commit to one time. Their search had proved fruitless, they hadn't even been able to find a way to send him home, let alone bring him back here. But he still desperately clung to that hope, as it was the only thing that kept him going.

"Atem, this isn't some hypothetical question. I found a spell to go back home, but it's one way. Will you come with me?"

"I don't know. I love you, but I can't justify abandoning Egypt for someone I just met. I'm sorry Ryou, but I don't think I can go with you."

It was heartbreaking seeing Ryou's face grow pale. He pulled away from Atem, anger appearing in his tear stained eyes. As he stood up, Atem noticed the paper held tightly in his grasp. Ryou fled down the hallway, leaving Atem to merely stare in shock. The world suddenly seemed so empty, so silent. His face seemed to burn, his vision growing blurry as tears poured from his eyes. He stumbled back into the library, before he collapsed to his knees.

He should have ran after Ryou. He should have said something, anything! He shouldn't have just stood there like an idiot as Ryou ran off. Why was he so pathetic? He could tell Mana was there next to him, but he couldn't make out what she was saying. Vague comforting words went completely unheard as he did nothing.

Atem's eyes fell to the ring, laying abandoned on the floor. He picked it up, holding it close to his chest. It seemed to glow softly as he whispered to it.

"Bakura? I know you don't like me, but Ryou's gone and I don't know what to do. Do you have any clue where he might have gone?"

He stared at the ring, waiting for a response. Something, anything. He felt so useless. He was the pharaoh. Why was he falling apart like this? 

And why was he holding on to the hope that he might be able to find Ryou before he headed home? What would he even say if he did? What could he possibly say to fix everything? What good would more empty promises do?

"Bakura please, I don't know who else to turn to. Mana and I don't know where he might have gone."

Why was he still hoping? Ryou was gone, and he didn't even have a chance to say goodbye. And yet here he was, desperately pleading for his enemy to give him answers. Answers he had no reason to even assume Bakura had.

"If I tell you where to find Ryou, will you stop whining?"

"Yes, just please tell me."

"He's going to Kul Elna."

Atem blinked. Why Kul Elna?

"The spell to send him back home involves the Tablet of the King's Memories."

"What?"

"It's this rock that the millennium items fit in."

Atem started to get up to leave, but hesitated.

"Wait, how do you know this?"

"I might have done a little snooping around back when I was possessing Mahado. Why do you think the Millenium Tome was just lying out in the open?"

"Then why didn't you tell us about the spell? Or at least point us in the direction of the library?"

"You're asking me why I'd help my mortal enemy? Maybe because, I don't know? I really, really don't like you?"

"Then why offer to help in the first place?"

"Because you guys were getting nowhere without me?"

Atem clenched his fists, trying desperately to avoid shouting at Bakura. He was unable to restrain himself.

"We were getting nowhere because you were withholding vital information!"

"Shut up and go find Ryou. You're wasting time."

Says the one who took this long to tell us anything useful.

Atem sighed, picked up the ring and headed for the door, but felt a hand reach out towards him.

"Mana?"

He turned back to face her.

"I'm just going to go find Ryou, so I can say goodbye"

She let go of his arm to wipe the tears away from her eyes.

"Okay."

She smiled, gesturing for him to go.

"Go talk to your boyfriend."

She turned back to organizing the spells, softly whispering one last thing as Atem headed out the door to leave.

"Good luck."


	13. Ghosts of Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two things to note
> 
> 1) I changed the title. I hated the original title. It was a placeholder title I resorted to using because I couldn’t think of anything else. I was a bit worried of changing the title so late into the story, but I decided having a title that wasn't complete garbage was worth some mild confusion.
> 
> 2) The fic has gone from 17 chapters to 15. This is because there were two epilogue chapters that I changed my mind about including. I'll go into more detail on them and why they were cut when chapter 15 is posted.

Atem carefully climbed off of his horse, staring at the ruins of Kul Elna. He held the millenium ring out in front of him, the front prong leading him forwards, glowing in the darkness. The howling of the wind sounded like whispers of angry souls, and with each step forward there seemed to be something grabbing him, trying to slow him down. Bursting out of one of the abandoned buildings was a horse, fleeing in terror. Echoing out from where the horse had fled was a chorus of screams and curses, yelling at the horse for abandoning him. The voice, though bitter and aggressive, was unmistakably Ryou's. Running in the direction of the voice, Atem found Ryou lying on the floor, sobbing.

"Ryou, what's wrong?"

"I fell off of the horse and everything hurts!"

Atem carefully helped Ryou sit up, propping him against the tablet.

"What were you thinking, running off like this?"

"You're better off without me. You've got a whole kingdom to run. I should just go."

"But-"

Ryou pulled Atem close into a hug, looking up at him with his tear stained eyes.

"It was nice knowing you Atem. I'm sorry we have to say goodbye."

He pushed Atem away, knocking him to the ground as Ryou slowly stood up. 

"I'm sorry I loved you."

A golden light began to pour out from the Tablet of the King's Memories, as he began whispering the spell.

"Ryou wait! We still have time to think this through!"

The room seemed to shake and crumble as the spell grew in power. Too late, he realised it didn't just seem too, the building was falling apart. A crack grew across the ceiling, breaking apart as debri began falling.

"Atem!"

Ryou screamed, reaching out to grab Atem and pull him away from the falling debris. Ryou pulled Atem forward, holding him tight as everything seemed to vanish in a flash of light.


	14. Open Your Eyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter was so late! When posting the previous chapters, I didn’t have school due to regents week, so I was posting them first thing in the morning. School just started up again, so I couldn't update until I got home.

Atem slowly opened his eyes, trying to make sense of what had happened. They were in Kul Elna, Ryou was leaving, the building was collapsing, and then he blacked out. Taking in his surroundings, he realised he had no idea where he was. At the very least, it was indoors. But everything about the room seemed so strange. The spell! Ryou had brought him to the present to save him from the collapsing debris. He carefully pulled himself up from where he had laid collapsed on the floor. The room around him seemed to spin as he began to realise the full weight of what had happened. But there was Ryou sprawled across one of the chairs in the room. And on another, a stranger with pale skin and white hair. Except he wasn't a stranger. That was Ryou's real body. It felt weird that he had somehow grown accustomed to Ryou being in the thief king's body. It hadn't taken long to start thinking of it as Ryou's. He sat himself down next to Ryou, content to wait patiently until he awakened so that he could explain his time.

Ryou's eyes opened, blinking as he adjusted to the light. He slowly pulled himself up, grabbing onto Atem for balance.

"I'm sorry, it's all I could think of to save you.”

Atem hugged him, both in an attempt to stop Ryou from dragging him down to the floor, and to comfort him.

"It's going to be okay. I'm with you, and that's what matters. It'll take time to figure things out, to adjust, but I'm with you, so I know it'll be okay."

He paused, trying to think things through.

"Mana will hopefully be able to tell everyone what happened. I trust her, things will turn out okay for Egypt."

He held Ryou close, wanting to reassure himself that everything would be okay.

"Huh? What's going on?"

Bakura, the thief king Bakura groggily sat up. He looked up at where Atem and Ryou stood, then down at his hands.

"What are you doing here Pharoah? And for that matter, why am I still here?"

The words were angry and dripping with hatred, much like the spirit of the ring. They were the same person after all. But when he talked it didn't have that same clear disdain for humanity, as the Bakura in the ring had 3000 years to become evil and sadistic. The thief king wasn't an angry ghost bent on world destruction, he was just a person, a person who had grown bitter and jaded from the suffering he had experienced, but a person nonetheless.

"The spell I found was one way. It could send people to the present, but not the other way around."

"Okay, that explains one thing, but why is he here? Don't you have a country to run?"

"The building we were in collapsed, so Ryou brought me with him."

"I bet you were glad to just abandon Egypt like that. You had no idea what even happened in your own country, so you don't even have anything to miss!"

Atem desperately tried to hold back the tears he could feel building up in his eyes.

"He didn't tell you did he?"

"Who?"

"The ring. I asked him to pass a message but-"   
  


The thief interrupted him with a scowl.

"Yeah, the ring just sort of stopped talking after telling us you went to the library. What was oh so important, Pharaoh?"

"Kul Elna. We found out how the items were created."

Bakura stumbled backwards in shock, clearly trying to hold back tears. His eyes fell to the floor as he whispered in a low voice.

"They killed them all. I was the only survivor. My mother, she helped me hide, but couldn't save herself. I was just a kid and I had to watch as they all-"

The once proud thief king broke down crying.

"I'm so sorry. What can I do to-"

Bakura glared.

"I don't want your pity."

Ryou looked away, feeling awkward and unsure of what to say.

"I'm going to grab something to eat."

He quickly dashed out of the room, leaving Atem and Bakura to stand in silence.

"Why is my fridge empty?"

Atem looked up at the sudden shouting from the other room.

"I was hungry! And why are my legs so bruised?"

"Horses are harder to ride than I thought!"

Atem giggled, which soon grew to an infectious laugh that spread to Bakura. This whole situation was nuts. Here he was, his boyfriend from the future yelling about horses while he laughed about it with his former enemy. He had no idea what would happen next, but somehow, being able to laugh with the thief king Bakura about Ryou's inability to ride horses made him unafraid.

"Hey wait, what happened to the ring?"

Ryou reentered the room at this point. The ring was in fact, not around his neck.

"I didn't take it off. I don't think I was wearing it when I woke up."

Atem looked around at the floor, spotting it by where he had awoken. He bent down to pick it up.

"There's this here, but I think this is the ring from the past."

The ring was cold to the touch, with no hint of the spirit inside. It felt like just a normal piece of jewelry. Well, as normal as a magical pendant made out of dead bodies could be.

"I can't feel the spirit anymore. Did bringing the ring from the past destroy the one from the one from this time?"

Bakura grabbed the ring from Atem.

"You're right, even when he wasn't talking I could still clearly feel his presence."

He paused, looking at the golden ring.

"So is he just gone? No answers, nothing on who he is or how he got in the ring?"

Atem and Ryou looked at Bakura. Ryou was clearly desperately trying to resist the urge to laugh.

"Why is everyone looking at me like that?"

Ryou began to giggle, no longer able to stop himself.

"Well, how do I put this? You're the spirit of the ring."

"What?"

"He's you after you sealed your soul into the millenium ring."

"I heard what you said, I'm just wondering how I didn't realise this when even you two morons were able to figure it out."

  
Ryou grabbed onto one of the chairs to keep himself from falling.   
  
"Okay, I'm going to go order pizza, because someone ate all of the stuff in my fridge."


	15. Rebuilding the Puzzle

Yugi stood outside the door to Ryou's apartment, his friends right behind him. It was the middle of the night, but Yugi had received a call from Ryou, who was back in his own body. Yugi began fidgeting with the string around his neck. He had actually been wide awake when Ryou called, despite how late it was. Shortly before Ryou had called, the puzzle had just disappeared. One moment it was there, and the next it was gone. Hesitating, he reached forward and opened the door, slowly turning the spare key Bakura had given him. 

"So you're saying that with this  _ phone _ , you can tell people to bring you food?"

Sitting on the couch was Ryou and two people he didn't recognise. Ryou quickly stood up, awkwardly jumping over a chair to get to the front door.

"Ryou!"

He pulled his friend into a hug, desperately wanting to get across how glad they were that he was okay.

"You're okay?"

It unintentionally came out as a question, as he wanted to reassure himself that everything was fine.

"As okay as I'll ever be."

Ryou's soft smile switched to a panicked expression as he noticed tears building in Yugi's eyes.

"What's wrong?"

Yugi pulled away, his hands moving to the string around his neck.

"It's nothing."   
  


Ryou looked at him, realisation dawning on his face.

"The puzzle."

Yugi slowly nodded.

"It just, disappeared."

One of the other people in the apartment, the one questioning the existence of phones, stood up, staring at Yugi. His hair was the same multicolored star as Yugi's and around his neck hung the millennium puzzle.

"You're Yugi, right?"

He smiled, extending a hand.

"I'm Atem."

Atem looked so much like his other self. It wasn't just that he looked the same, it was his mannerisms, the way he spoke, the way he moved. Their similarities were so obvious that their differences were off putting. He didn't have that same air of confidence as the spirit of the puzzle.

The person still on the couch spoke up, in a voice instantly recognizable as Bakura's.

"And I'm Bakura, but in my actual body this time."

It was surreal, sitting down to eat pizza in Ryou's apartment, hearing his explantation of everything that had happened. Bakura interjected constantly, asking questions about things the ring hadn't bothered to tell him. Atem blushed awkwardly as Ryou described them visiting the banks of the Nile. Yugi smiled, pulling on the string still around his neck. It was so strange, yet at the same time, it felt normal. It was like their reality had fallen apart when Ryou disappeared into the past, and they were now putting it back together. Some of the pieces were missing, and replaced with new ones. But they still managed to put it back together. Things were different now, but it wasn't like they couldn't move forward. The items were gone, but they had new friends. And somehow, they'd find a way to make this work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now that Shattered Across Time is finished I can tell you about the epilogue chapters. They were cut because Gloriousbookwyrm kept coming up with ideas for what would happen when Malik shows up, so because of them and their great ideas there’s going to be another story in this series now. It'll probably just be a oneshot with some citronshipping. Chapter 17 was going to show how Atem and Bakura were adjusting to the modern world, but it’s now redundant so it was cut. Chapter was going to show what happened in Ancient Egypt after Atem disappeared. But it felt weird to have 16 without 17, so it was cut too. I don't know when the follow up story will come out, as I want to go back to writing Because I Lie Too and some more prompt based stuff. And so for now, the story is finished.


End file.
